Thrice upon a time
by anotherOUATwriter
Summary: Emma Swan was a time jumper, which would be great if it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't control when she jumped or to which period in history. / Swan Queen Week, day 3: Time travel.


Here is my entrance to Swan Queen Week. Day 3: Time Travel.

Thanks to cyr1988, my awesome beta who corrected this as fast as she could so I could publish it on time!

Enjoy,

Mara

* * *

Emma Swan was a time jumper, which would be great if it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't control when she jumped or to which period in history.

As a kid, it had been both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing when she escaped from an abusive foster home. It was a curse when someone found out about her powers and tortured her to find something absurd such as immortality. Everyone dies, at one point or another. There was no escaping death. Even Emma, who grew up in periods of Ancient Greece, the American Civil War, and WWII, knew that her time would come one day.

As she got older, the time jumping had felt more like a curse, rather than a blessing. She was careful not to get caught. But it was getting tiresome not be able to stay in one place more than few days. She looked forward to the day of her death. To her, death meant that she'd rest in peace, in one place at one time.

But, until then, she kept on jumping. She kept on studying people from afar, never getting close to anyone.

That was, of course, until she met Regina Mills.

The first time she saw Regina, the girl was ten years old and Emma was twenty. She had just time-jumped from a cowboy gunfight and landed in a stable. The jump had scared the little girl, who had been talking to a horse when Emma appeared out of nowhere.

"Who are you and how did you appear in my stables?" the girl asked, pointing at Emma with the shovel that was used to clean the horses' poop.

"Could you please put that down? It smells."

"You smell, too!" Emma laughed at the girl's answer.

"I apologize for not being fit to be in your presence, your highness," she curtsied in front of the girl, "I just escaped a gunfight."

The girl crossed her arms over her chest. "I think you're a liar."

"Seriously? You just saw me materialize from thin air!" Emma threw her hands to the air, "How can you explain that?"

"Optical illusions."

"Wow, are you a little bit too young to not believe in magic?"

"My mother says magic is for the people who can't find a solution by themselves."

"Your mother sounds like fun."

"Does your mother encourage you to believe in magic?"

"I never met my mother."

"I'm sorry," the girl replied, lowering the shovel, "I'm Regina, and this is my horse, Rocinante."

Regina had agreed to keep Emma's presence quiet. As much as she didn't like lying to her mother, she liked having Emma to herself. Emma taught her all sorts of awesome things that her mother would not approve of, such as shooting with a gun or standing on a horse.

Having Emma around was like being at a summer camp. Every day, it was an exciting adventure. Until the day Emma disappeared suddenly without any obvious explanation. Regina had just come back from school and ran towards the stable just to find it empty. She called for Emma for what felt like hours. It didn't take more than a few days to understand Emma had left her. Love is weakness - she repeated her mother's words to herself every night when she felt like crying at the loss of the only one true friend she ever had.

* * *

The second time she saw Regina, the girl was pinned to one of the stable's walls by a guy who was kissing her with passion.

Like the first time, her jump had scared Regina, who immediately pushed the boy away and then glared at Emma angrily.

Emma learned that Regina's boyfriend's name is Robin when Regina was making excuses to her boyfriend to get him to leave. As he left Regina started

yelling at Emma for abandoning her, for leaving without even saying goodbye. After her anger had drained her, she started crying all those tears she didn't when Emma first left her.

Regina had grown into a beautiful teenager, Emma noticed as the brunette first yelled at her and then cried. Her hair was gathered in a long beautiful braid and her body had matured in the perfect way. Seeing Regina so grown up made Emma realize that even though a few months had passed in her timeline, in Regina's, it had been a couple of years. It was at that point that she decided to come clean and tell her the truth.

"Time travelling? You really want me to believe that?"

"I know it's crazy, Regina," Emma pursed her lips into a thin line before continuing, "I cared for you, in those ten days we spent together. When I woke up and realized I was in the middle of the French Revolution, it hurt me, too!" she added, remembering the pain she felt when she woke up in a cold jail cell in Paris.

"If you cared enough, you would have learned how to stop!" Regina snapped at her, clearly still hurt from being abandoned. "Everyone thought I was crazy and you were my imaginary friend! I was bullied because of you!"

"Do you think I haven't tried to make it stop!" Emma yelled at her, because she had tried. So many times. "You have no idea how many people I've befriended just to lose after a couple of days! Friends and lovers I never see again! Do you not know how lonely I feel? Do you think I wouldn't give anything to stay in one place?"

"Well, maybe, you should try harder!" the brunette remarked in a cold tone and walked away. This time, she wouldn't be the one that's left behind. This time, she would leave Emma. Just like Emma left her.

* * *

Years passed before Emma met Regina again. Almost eight years, to be exact.

She didn't know how she ended in Regina's stables again. One moment she was alone, blowing her candle on her lame, birthday cupcake after a disastrous date She wished to not be alone on her birthday, and the next thing she knew, she was standing in the only place she had appeared twice (now three times) in her life.

"That was so cool!" a voice behind her startled her "Can you do that again?"

Emma turned around to find a young boy smiling at her, "Do what again?"

"Poof!"

"I'm sorry, I can't control it."

The boy shrugged. "It's ok," he said, "My mom says she has a friend who can't control it either," he stated with the simplicity only a child could have. After all, adults didn't believe in magic.

And it made Emma's heart jump, because if there was someone else like her, maybe she could get some answers, or not be so alone anymore.

"What's your name?"

"Emma."

The boy looked at her for a second, before opening his mouth once more. If he was going to either ask something more, or tell her his name, Emma never found out, because someone had interrupted them.

"Henry!" a voice that Emma remembered all too well. "Henry, I told you can't play cowboy until you finish your homework!" Regina kept on talking, and Emma realized that she was walking towards the stable.

The blonde looked around, trying to find a place where to hide. Sadly, the hay was in its place and there was no space big enough to cover her body. So, she simply ducked behind a fence.

"Who were you talking to?"

"Some woman named Emma."

Damn that kid, she shouldn't have trusted him. Now Regina would yell at her once again. This time, she'd probably accuse her of hurting her children too. And to be fair, Emma couldn't blame her. To Regina, Emma must be a distasteful memory from the past that just kept reappearing and interrupting her perfect life.

"Henry, please go back to the house and finish your homework."

Emma should have run away when she had the chance. She shouldn't have talked to the kid. Just run. Run away and hope she'd never jump to Regina's stables again.

"Emma?" a soft voice interrupted her chain of thoughts, "Is it really you?"

The time jumper sighed before standing up, "Hi," she said, moving her head slightly to one side. She tried to hide her hands in her jeans' front pockets when she realized she was still wearing the dress she had put on for the date.

"Where did you jump from?"

"I think when is the right answer," Emma tried to be sassy, but it sounded lame, "Um - October 23, 2011. What year is it?"

"That's today's date." Regina reasoned, walking towards Emma.

"Wonderful. Now I don't just jump in time but I also can teleport." the sarcasm didn't go unnoticed by Regina.

"Why are you here?"

"We've already been through this, Regina," Emma crossed her hands over her chest, "I can't control it."

"Yes, well. Dear, you also told me you never saw your friends or lovers again," Regina pointed out. She clearly remembered their last conversation, "And yet, this is the third time you appear in my life."

Emma's jaw dropped, because she had never realized that she had jumped two (not three) times into Regina's life. But, of course, Regina became aware of that fact, because even as a kid, she was very smart and intuitive.

"So, why are you here?"

"I don't know," Emma replied, almost in a whisper. "All I know is that it was my birthday. I wished not to be alone and then, I jumped and appeared here."

"Today is your birthday?" Emma nodded, "Why don't we go and see if Henry is done with his homework and then we can go to Granny's for some pie?"

"Wait, what?" the blonde was confused by Regina's soft tone and friendly behavior, "You're not going to yell, cry, and then leave me?"

"I - I'm sorry for how I reacted last time," Regina replied after taking a deep breath, "You caught me in at a bad time in my life, my hormones were out of whack, my parents were divorcing, and I couldn't handle more pain."

"I'm sorry to hear abut your parents."

"It's alright." Regina smiled, but it didn't reach to her eyes, "So, what do you say about that cake?"

"Are you sure your husband won't mind?" Emma asked, "Did you marry that guy that you were kissing last time? Because he smelled like a cheap forest cologne and you can do so much better."

Regina laughed, "No, I didn't marry Robin. I didn't marry anyone at all."

"And Henry?"

"I adopted him."

As expected, Henry had finished his homework. When he saw Emma walk into the house with his mother, a grin appeared on his face. The grin got bigger when Regina announced that it was Emma's birthday and they would go to Granny's to celebrate the occasion with a piece of pie.

They didn't take the car, since Regina had insisted on walking towards the establishment. The brunette walked next to the blonde, enjoying Emma's presence as much as she could because she knew that being with Emma was like being on borrowed time. Unconsciously, she slipped her hand against Emma's and weaved their fingers together. She realized what she had done when she felt Emma gently squeeze her hand. She looked down to their linked hands and smiled. She didn't let go.

On the way back home, they couldn't hold hands together, because Emma was carrying a very sleepy Henry. Regina was trying hard not to fall in love with the blonde again. Because for her, it was always been Emma. Throughout all her life, and all her relationships, her heart belonged to Emma.

After Emma tucked Henry in like she once tucked Regina, she walked to the den where Regina was waiting. She apologized for everything- for jumping in the stable that first time, for leaving, for jumping again, for the pain she caused, for the pain she'd cause once she'd jump again. It was at that point where Regina lost the will to deny her feelings and crashed her lips against Emma with passion

and desperation. And she begged Emma not to leave, and when Emma started saying she couldn't control the jumps, Regina cut her off by kissing her again.

And then Emma let go of her constraint, too. Because nothing was a constant in her life, but Regina came close to being the one constant. If Regina wanted this, she would give it to her. She'd live with the consequences. She wanted to make Regina happy. She wanted to be happy. So, she let Regina guide her into her room. And, she made love to the brunette, as she never made love to anyone else, pouring all the good emotions she had ever felt.

When Regina drifted to sleep after their moments of passion, Emma decided to cuddle against the brunette, Regina's forehead resting against Emma's clavicle. The pillow smelled of Regina's shampoo, this was when she realized that she had never been this happy.

Being with Regina was like having all the good things together. It was like coming home, feeling safe, and being calmed. It warmed every inch of your soul and made everything lighter - like magic. Being with Regina was like magic.

Emma felt her eyelids droop, losing the fight against gravity. But, before she fell asleep, she remembered seeing a shooting star through the window, and made a desperate wish that she could stay with Regina forever.

Maybe, it had been a coincidence.

Or, maybe, her wish did come true.

But, the day after her 28th birthday, Emma Swan did not wake up alone.

She did not wake up alone on any other day for the rest of her life.


End file.
